Nassau/St Thomas/St Maarten

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Lunkey

Guest
I'm taking a cruise on the carvinal valor to nassau, st thomas, and st maarten and am looking for some helpful hints on what to do. I'm going on the cruise with my brother, sister, brother-in-law, and parents (2 people to a room) so much more of a family cruise than a romantic honeymoon get-away - at least for me! Here's our list of potential excursions at each port:

Nassau: Discover Atlantis and Historical Harbor Cruise (everyone says this is a must see). Wasn't planning on the pirate tour but definitely won't after reading all the negative reviews.

St. Thomas: The Fabulous Kon Tiki Party Raft.

St. Maarten: Some people have said to take a cab over to the French side (what is there to do over there though?), and I also read to find a friendly taxi driver to give you a tour for $20/$30 a person.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! We've done quite a bit of snorkeling on previous trips so I highly doubt we will do anthing of that nature but we are a very fun/active family that has no problem adventuring out on our own to shop or doing something very athletic/active. Also neither my mom or sister are big jewelry women - well what woman doesn't like jewelry but it's not a big deal to them..
 
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mapsb421

Guest
We took the Kon Tiki Party Raft. Two years ago it was great. We got a great little cruise aruond St Thomas island. The Kon Tiki Party Raft has a glass bottom which they open for about fifteen minutes. Also the high light is the private beach you stop at for like an hour. Oh by the way did I metion the all you can drink rum punch. We took our kids with us the top of the boat was pretty wild. But we stayed downstairs it was great.
 
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LBcruiser

Guest
In St. Maarten we rented a car and cruised around the island, which was ok but a bit disappointing. I wish we had just taken the foot ferry from the cruise ship pier to the waterfront shopping area on the Dutch side. It's $5/person R/T, and you end up in the heart of the huge shopping district and a very nice beach where you can rent lounge chairs & go swimming, get served drinks and food on the beach. I think it would appeal to everyone in your group- a few of you could shop while the others lounged, etc. If we went back we would definitely just do that. I could easily spend a few more days just in that area.

In Nassau I think the Atlantis is amazing- just so you know there is a ferry that takes people over there from the cruise ship dock for cheap, then you can wander around and check things out. We toured around the island and I really didn't see anything else worth checking out further besides the Atlantis.
 
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Lunkey

Guest
You said there is a ferry that takes people to Atlantis from the cruise ship dock - did you book this thru your cruiseline as an excursion, or just got off the boat and found the ferry?

Thanks for the idea regarding St. Maarten! That might work out very well. So is there a French side and a Dutch side? Or are they one in the same?
 
B

Boymom

Guest
St. Maarten is 2 countries in one........half French and half Dutch..... You will port on the Dutch side which
is the FUN side in my opinion........casinos, bars, etc....... there is a water taxi that is $5.00 per person
and they give you an arm band and you can go back and forth all day for the $5.00 fee.......... I go over
and shop in the morning........ bring it back to the ship midday - catch a bite of lunch and then go back
over and drink and gamble in the afternoon........hahaha

The shopping is GREAT in St. Maarten on the Dutch side. French side is more expensive. They do
have bus and other tours that will include both sides........but one day was not enough (IMHO) to do
both......so I just go for the Dutch side now when I go there..

Liquor, cigarettes are cheaper there than even St. Thomas or the ship. Also the jewelry is
cheaper.... they have "knock off " namebrand bags and luggage. V ERY reasonably priced.....
liike Louis V, Gucci, Dooney & Burke, Burberry, etc...... always get the daughter's in law the
knock off bags. They love them........

Their casinos are FUN.......free drinks in their casinos (unlike the ships casino of course)
and 3-card poker..........

I'm also on the Valor April 24th........when are ya'll going?

Barb
 
L

Lunkey

Guest
We set sail june 19th. i can't wait!

Barb your plan sounds like it would be 100% perfect for us thank you very much! just forwarded your post onto the rest of the fam. You'll have to be sure to give a detailed review of your cruise
 
B

Boymom

Guest
You will have a wonderful time. This is my 22nd cruise.......16th on Carnival......... I agree that your group
would enjoy the Kon Tiki Party Boat in St. Thomas........ it is a fun time.....and you get to see some
of that gorgeous island.......... If some want to swim for the hour that they stop at the beach, that is good,
but if some just want to stay on the boat and relax - that is good too. For the older folks, the downstairs
would be shaded.......and then there is an upper deck that is for sunning.....

St. Maarten is by far my favorite island.....with Curacao and Aruba falling close behind.......

BTW.....if any of the group likes slot machines (I'm a card player myself)......the St. Maarten
casinos even have penny slots............ lets see......free drinks and penny slots..... on a
gorgeous caribbean island.!! Does it get any better than that??!!

have a great trip and email me if you have other questions...


Barb
 
L

LBcruiser

Guest
The ferry to Atlantis is just like the ferry on St. Maarten- you just wander over, pay & jump on. They go back and forth all day. You see pretty much the same stuff on the ferry you'd see on the tour boat- but shorter and a whole lot cheaper. I'm sorry- I'm pretty "anti-excursion" since the ones we've gone on have either been total tourist traps or we get yelled at by a bunch of old people for being 5 minutes late back to the bus. We just have so much more fun winging it unless it's something we wouldn't be able to do on our own. The party boat sounds fun in St. Thomas though- we'll have to check that out if we get back there. We just took a cab to Megan's Beach, which was a nice beach but we'd definitely look for something different if we went back.
 
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